The purpose of this invention is to replace existing magnifying eyeglasses by more convenient and cosmetically attractive devices. The magnifying eyeglasses improve vision for the many millions of low vision persons, including those suffering from macular degeneration.
Existing binoculars intended as low vision aids are not perfect. The Galilean type binoculars have a narrow (about 5 degrees) field of view and aberrations at the edge of the field. Existing Keplerian low vision binoculars have good optical performance but they are bulky and heavy, projecting as much as three to four inches from the eye. Some devices provide the conversion of far distance binoculars into magnifying reading glasses by putting so called reading caps on the objective lenses which enables reading, but with rather small depth of sharpness.
This invention overcomes the aforementioned problems with a new type of Keplerian binoculars, each half of which is 18 mm thick (in the direction of view) and just covers the eye of the user. The whole binoculars' appearance is similar to the appearance of sunglasses. The design is lightweight, comfortable to wear on the nose and ears. The binoculars have a front aperture of 24 mm and enable both near and far vision with high resolution.
A special feature of the device is its convertibility. Just touching the knob on each temple side converts the far distance binoculars into magnifying reading eyeglasses. For instance, a user, during a lecture, will be able to see the blackboard and after a quick click, be able to read his/her notebook.